Immigration and Cultural Changes in Iran
Taghi Azadarmaki, University of Tehran , Iran
Mehri
Bahar, University of Tehran , Iran
This paper started with a distinction between immigrants
and asylum-seekers/refugees and analyzed the role these two groups play
in their homeland from social, economical, and cultural points of view.
Asylum-seekers/refugees depart their homeland because of objections to
the prevailing ideology. Contrary to the concept of asylum-seeking, immigration
is primarily motivated by economic reasons, and occurs when immigrants
seek permanent, seasonal or temporary employment in a country other
than their homeland.
Immigrants do not cut off ties with their
homeland and have, in different ways, a continuous influence therein.
The main aim of Iranian immigrants is to provide for and support their
families, which, from a wider perspective, is a contribution to social
stability. Asylum-seekers/refugees, by contrast, are unlikely to have
a positive role in the construction of their homeland.
Iranian immigrants enter
in a fluid in-between space because of the importance and role of the
family. The interaction that takes place between recipient country and
home country through Iranian immigrants abroad attempts to create an
Iranian social world which is much advanced than the Iranian social world
of yesterday. In the first stage, emigration disturbs the home society
by the establishment of a critical environment and by the transfer of
manpower and capital abroad. The positive impact of migration on the
home society is discerned in the second stage. In the latter, through
the transfer of experience, new knowledge, capital, and new interests
to their own home society, migration becomes an important factor in cultural,
economical and social changes therein.
The authors argue that Iran
has gone through three stages of immigration: (1) the Qa jar Era with
the lowest rate of emigration from Iran as students and politicians;
(2) the Pahlavi Era in which immigration started from the beginning
and went to several stages: after the Second World War, during the Mohammad
Reza Shah era, and before the Islamic Revolution; and (3) After the Islamic
Revolution starting with asylum-seekers in the early years of 1980s,
the war years, and throughout the decade.
Using ownership as the main index
for categorizing Iranian immigrants, the a uthors identify three types of Iranian
immigrants: (1) Immigrants with no ownership in Iran ;
(2) Immigrants with a moderately good economic (ownership) position in Iran
; and
(3) immigrants with a sound or affluent economic (ownership) position in Iran
. Immigrants' impact on Iran depends on their connection to homeland, the country
(location) to which they have migrated, and reasons for their migration.
There
are various kinds of impact that emigrants have on Iran . These include: creating
a nostalgia culture, representing the attractions of a floating life, raising
emphasis on literacy and wealth, reinforcing the role of international organizations,
putting pressure for more democracy, developing international economic
links, and contributing to urban development, encouraging awareness
of globalization. The positive and negative impacts of immigration
on the country can be summarized in the following table.
| Different Impacts | Areas |
| 1- Social Impacts | 1.The emergence
of the Immigrant Group |
| 2- Cultural Impacts: | 1 Pro-pop music
2 Criticizing social traditions 3 Supporting the previous regime 4 Presenting new definition of Iranian identity 6- Making a subculture and producing nostalgic literature. |
| 3 – Political Impacts: | 1 Criticizing
the new government 2 Pro-human rights 3 Pro–open and free relationship with the world 4 Pro-political democracy |
| 4- Economical Impacts: | 1 Investment
in rug industry, housing, properties, and luxuries 2- Balance between foreign currency and Iranian money 3- Importing consumer products 4- Exporting rugs, tiles, handicraft, and pistachio |
The authors conclude that Iranian immigrants abroad have a close tie with their homeland during the migration and after settlement, and exercise a substantial influence on their homeland from economical, political, cultural and social points of view. The main factor contributing to this influence is the family ties in Iran . Educated Iranian immigrants are involved in transfer of technology to the homeland and translation of books or publication of books about issues in Iran . Most scholarly books about political and social developments of the new era have been prepared by intellectuals living abroad.
